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THE DREAM-GOD, 



A SINGULAR EVOLYEMENT 



THOUGHT IN SLEEP 



BY JOHN CUNINGHAM. 



CD 



: Jr 



NEW YOKK: .; 

PRINTED FOR THE AUTHOR BY 

ANDERSON & RAMSAY. 

28 Frankfort Street. 

73. 



75 tf*T* 
C 



m 



Entered according to act of Congress, in the year 1873, by 

JOHN CUNINGHAM, 
In the office of the librarian of Congress at Washington. 



/fib 



TO MY FRIENDS. 

Although requested by a number of you at vari- 
ous times to write this condensed narrative of an 
event in my life, associated with much misfortune, 
sadness and suffering which have continued for 
some years, it was not until during a lonely period 
of quietude at Brooklyn, JSf. Y., in the summer of 
1872, that I made the effort I do not expect the 
public to give much credence or interest to the mat- 
ter, but to you who know me I can trustingly give 
the assurance that this little book is an unaffected 
and truthful production. It is published as an 
affectionate memorial to you of mutual esteem and 
friendship. 



Apeil, 1873. 



JOHN CUNINGHAM, 

of So. Ga. 



A SINGULAR EVOLVEMENT OF 
THOUGHT IN SLEEP. 



A REMARKABLE DREAM. 

The peculiar and startling* effect of mor- 
phine on a person unaccustomed to its admin- 
istration, was happily illustrated in the in- 
stance of a gentleman to whom, under its in- 
fluence, (about three eighths of a grain,) the 
dream to be related occurred. This individu- 
al, (a South Carolinian resident on a planta- 
tion,) a few years ago, had lately received a 
severe and extensive burn, which confined him 
to his bed six months. An allusion by him in 
a casual conversation in the city of New York 
recently to the eventful dream and its circum- 
stances, brought out a solicitation to him to 
write its narrative, which in substance he here 
gives. 



6 A Bemarkable Dream, 

One evening in midwinter, a few weeks af- 
ter the accident, the almost exhausted sufferer, 
having taken the prescribed nightly dose of 
morphine, fell asleep. 



THE DREAM -GOD. 



PART I. 

The sleep was serene, the mind active, and 
the dream promptly and vividly supervened. 
A being in the form of a handsome and ma- 
tured man, full of esprit, in a white and easy- 
fitting garment, with bright, broad and sweep- 
ing wings coming out from each side of his 
back below the shoulders, appeared to the pa- 
tient at his bedside, and announced to him 
that he was the Spirit of Morphine, of a hea- 
venly and immortal nature, and that he had 
come to carry him on an aerial voyage over 
many parts of the world-, to show him many 
attractive regions and things, to introduce him 
to various races, royal personages, distin- 
guished celebrities, etc. 

The sleeper with surprise inquired, "How 
can I go with this stricken and impotent 
body?" 



8 The Dream- God. 

The Immortal replied, "You must leave 
your body here ; your spiritual being can ac- 
company me." 

Sleeper. — " But I fear that before my re- 
turn my friends may see and regard my inan- 
imate body as dead, and bury it." 

Immortal.— ■" Fear not. I will restore you 
in due time to your body ; and I will prepare 
you for our adventures as I am prepared." 

Thus assured, the somnipathist crept gently 
out, headway, from his " mortal coil," glided 
over the headboard of his bedstead, glanced 
back upon his sleeping frame in his very im- 
age, then sprang lithely to the sill of the win- 
dow, where the sash had already been thrown 
up by the Morpheus, and finding himself 
equipped with needed dress and wings, soared 
with his companion into the air. 

Immortal. — "What route do you prefer?" 

Mortal. — " I wish to have a birdseye view 
of Charleston, (once my home,) by gas-light 
and then toward the Arctic Pole." 

The aerial voyagears were, as if in a mo- 
ment, hovering in a slow, scrutinizing flight 
over Charleston, with stars above, and looking 
as upon stars below ; and in front, athwart the 
ocean, a long line of light, gleaming from a 
newly -risen moon, invited their quickened pin- 



The Dream- God. 9 

ions into the illimitable spaces over the far- 
bounded deep. Curving in a wide ocean- 
sweep northward, and moving with lightning- 
speed, they perceived, although having a full 
sense of comfort, varying currents of icy gales 
and warm breezes ; and from their transparent 
height saw beneath them the dark, girdling 
strata of cyclone hurricanes, or sheeny, swathe- 
clouds of crystal congelations ; or, within their 
extended girdles, broad, oval areas of clear- 
rolling sea, and far down, by a peculiar dim 
lighting of its depths, the plains, hills and 
vales it immersed, and the myriad tribes of the 
deep in their amazing animate forms. 

Mortal. — " I would see the borealis." 

Immortal. — " You shall, anon." 

The dream seemed to change. The parties 
suddenly found themselves lying in open sea- 
shells, structured to their lengths and sizes, 
floating side by side on a tranquil waste of 
waters, feet foremost, heads pillowed, and eyes 
bent upward and northward. A lowered and 
murky sky appeared as a dun-colored ceilin , 
of little height above them ; and they were 
thoughtful, and in low tones they occasionally 
uttered weird thoughts on life — mankind — 
earth — God. A drowsy moment ensues. Then 
slowly lifts the gloomy canopy, and along the 



10 The Bream- God. 

distant northern horizon, the fog having rapid- 
ly disappeared, a lengthened arc of whitish 
light spans itself. The heavens are again 
clear. From the bright arc dart upward along 
their northern hemisphere radiant streams of 
every lighter hue, and in incessant changeful 
brilliancy— a panoramic spread of incanescent 
splendors. A whirl of cold, shimmering light 
dashes around and over towering icebergs, and 
amazes the eye. It closes, and when again it 
opens, the Arctic travellers find themselves 
soaring aloft, and they look upon an open, 
calm, unfrozen polar sea,* The Spirit of 
Morphine remarks : " You now see, and will 
see, things unknown to man. This compara- 
tive warmth comes from the fire and glowing 
heat in the bowels of the earth, as you will 
soon ascertain." 

They move on ; they are at the Pole ; the 
north star is in the zenith. A magnetic nee- 
dle appears hanging in mid-air, like the vis- 
ioned dagger before Macbeth, and dips south- 
ward and westward toward the other— the 
magnetic— pole, degrees away. A glare dis- 
turbs the eye, and terrible sounds surround 

* This sea was then unknown to the dreamer. His dream re- 
vealed to him its existence. He thought it a delusion, until he 
heard of its discovery. 



The Dream- God. 11 

them. Behold ! the Pole is a large cylindrical 
aperture (miles in diameter) in our globe, down 
through which are seen the molten mass and 
fiery flame within the crust of earth ! The 
watery billows, like a whirlpool, surge in loud 
roar around its circumferent shore, but enter 
not ; and a column of heat ever rushes on the 
Arctic air. 

A cry of terror and awe escapes from the 
sleeper. He is conscious of it, but does not 
awake. The dream resumes. 

They are now flying southward, and the 
somnipathist has a vision (a dream in this 
dream) of a midsummer circling sun shining 
a day of months. They view the peculiarities 
of Iceland, examine the maelstrom, (that sin- 
gular natural wonder, gurgitating into another 
earth-aperture, off Norway,) and comprehend 
by a glance Lapland, Norway and Sweden, 
their curiosities, peoples, customs, etc. There 
is not time or space for details. They are en 
voyage for the Court of Russia. 

They alight at the Winter Palace of the Czar. 

The Immortal with his pupil enters with 
free and commanding port — obstructions van- 
ish. A festive scene of splendor — gayety, 
glitter and ceremony commingled — is at its 
height. Through the maze of an amazed, 



12 The Dream- God. 

gorgeous, throng, they advance to the Emper- 
or, surrounded by rank and beauty ; and 
through the influence of a celestial majesty 
more enthralling than his own, they secure his 
deferential and cordial attention. Then follows 
a confused but charming association with 
" beautiful women and brave men," amid all 
social bewitcheries. 

The scene changes. They are seated in a 
small ice-crystal*sa/cw, glistening on all sides 
except the carpeted floor, with the Emperor 
and his prime minister alone, all exhilarant 
with wine, and now sipping the potent subtle- 
ty of China's most famed and fragrant tea, 
priced at its weight in gold. The philosophy 
of government, from a republican standpoint, 
rushes upon the soul of the American, and he 
exclaims to the mighty potentate of all the 
Eussias : 

" How can your humanity conscientiously 
hold and wield the power of imperial despot- 
ism p 

Emperor. — " The one-man power in the 
light and dignity of a principle, appeals to 
reason and fascinates the soul. It is the true 



* This refers to the once famous palace, built of blocks of ice, 
in St. Petersburg. 



The Dream -God. 13 

theory of human government. I am God's 
vicegerent, as king and priest, for the well-be- 
ing and good order of my people." 

Prime Minister. — "This system derives its 
type from the One-God control of the uni- 
verse. It has divinity from above, it has pa- 
triarchal sanction here below. It can bear 
comparison with its opposite extreme in abso- 
lutism — a pure democracy, the mere many- 
power, unrestrained, unregulated and unin- 
structed. What is more irresponsible, more 
selfishly callous, more heedlessly unstable, 
and more grinding than the vulgar tyranny of 
a bare popular majority ? Extremes meet and 
have a singular affinity ; it is the secret of the 
growing friendship between Russia and the 
United States." 

American. — " Ha ! Our American people 
are not a mass democracy. The United 
States are republics federated under a Consti- 
tution — a system which excludes both your 
extremes." 

Prime Minister. — " Indeed !" 

Immortal. — " There is a golden mean for all 
finite governments. Uncontrolled power is 
only for the Infinite." 

Emperor. — " Is even political self-govern- 
ment a right f n 



14 The Dream-God. 

American. — " Surely mankind is entitled to 
it and should possess it." 

Immortal. — " No ! Self-government is the 
eventual prize of intelligence and virtue. The 
ignorant or vicious are incapable of it. In the 
meantime, it is the privilege of the human race 
to secure it by attempered wisdom, and to 
guard it against the passions and ignorance of 
the many, the few, or the one. Goodness in 
the use of power, more than the form of gov- 
ernment, is the great desideratum. Seek most 
to elevate the mind and heart of man !" 

American to Emperor. — " Sire ! it is then 
your best mission to do well your part /" 



- PART II. 

Farewells are spoken. The voyageurs are 
again a-wing. They reach the Arctic along 
the vast Siberian coast. There the cold is 
most intense, and of the frozen regions it is 
the wildest and grandest. A shimmering light 
seems to permeate it ever, even in its darkest 
periods. The ice presents plains, abysses, 
mountains. Everywhere are the debris of 
long-frozen animals. Over its dry waste of 
congealed waters, the fierce blasts, as if by 
frictional action on its rugged surfaces, ever 
generate electrical phenomena. In midwinter 
and darkness, scintillating flashes gleam along 
them in the nether air. Such was their vision. 

The disembodied, as one startled, exclaims : 
" See yon iceberg like a mountain of glass. 
What is that within it ? It resembles the car- 
cass of a dead animal, but it is too huge. It 
is at least sixty feet long, and of elephantine 
proportions." 



16 The Dream- God. 

Immortal. — " It is an ancient specimen of 
the behemoth (B'Hemoth) tribes. Its species 
is extinct. Its bulk is many times that of the 
mastodon. Its massive ivory tusks are similar 
to those of the walrus. Its remains have been 
frozen in there for thousands of years. Pu- 
trescence is here unknown." 

Mortal. — " What wonders ! Can this be na- 
ture V 

Immortal. — " We are approaching others." 

Mortal.— 1 ' Yes, look ! What a vast lizard 
or crocodile yonder encased — five hundred 
feet long ! But I see fins, also." 

Immortal. — " It is of the primeval species of 
sauroid fish. It has been frozen during cycles 
of time. This region was once warmer. Na- 
ture's changeful developments are a curious 
mystery to man, but it ever unfolds in increas- 
ing knowledge." 

They wheel southward — anon traverse Chi- 
nese Tartary — sweep over the Chinese wall, 
and alight in Pekin. They poise themselves 
on a lofty pagoda. 

Mortal. — " These Chinese are a mysterious 
people. I am curious about them. That 
wall was a great enterprise in its day, and a 
singular one." 

Immortal. — " They are a swarm from an an- 



The Dream- God. 17 

cient human hive, and have long been numer- 
ous and astute. They have been, and are su- 
perior to the average of mankind, but inferior 
to the more illumined and most cultivated. 
Their numbers and limited geographic sphere 
have made them feel want ; yet their inven- 
tions, although multiplied, have been petty, 
fanciful, crude and clumsy contrivances to 
meet emergency, in comparison with the 
grander discoveries and more studied and 
beautiful designs of other and higher civiliza- 
tions. Necessity has stimulated their cunning, 
but precludes their reflection ; it has pinched 
their faculties, as the t iron shoe ' has their 
feet. Their mental contraction has been ren- 
dered more compressive by their moral and 
spiritual defects. They have had no concep- 
tion of a God, per se. It is the conception 
which most expands man !" 

Mortal. — " But this pagoda (truly it is a gro- 
tesque structure !) is a temple devoted to some 
worship." 

Immortal. — " It is a fane of the merest 
idolatry, and dedicated to idols, ' of the earth, 
earthly,' not to any images which are even ty- 
pical of divine essences. But of this, anon." 

Mortal. — " The Chinese have, however, a 
demi-god — their * Celestial Emperor.' " 



18 The Dream- God. 

Immortal. — " Yes, lie is their immediate au- 
thority, temporal and spiritual. Yet he and 
his mandarins, alike with his subjects, are con- 
strained, by the dominancy of twenty-four 
centuries of veneration for the great Chinese 
philosopher and moralist, Koong-Foo-tse, (la- 
tinized, Confucius,) to worship in the temples 
dedicated to that extraordinary statesman and 
expounder. This pagoda is one of these tem- 
ples, which have been reared in all chief cities 
and towns. His i nine books ' constitute the 
creed and code — the bible — of the i Celestial 
Empire/ and you will deem it a singular fact 
that they contain no mention of a Creator — 
no allusion to Grod." 

Mortal. — " It is indeed strange for so intel- 
ligent a people. All other peoples have some 
kind of a belief and worship of a Supreme 
Being. Hark ! I hear sounds from below — 
I hear chants !" 

Immortal. — " Yes, they are from the Em- 
peror and his court, performing idol-service, 
offering fruits, wines, flowers and fancy arti- 
cles, and now singing chants. We will witness 
their return to the palace, and then visit them." 

Soon the vision embraced a scene of Orien- 
tal pomp— a pageant, with its ceremonies, gor- 
geous displays and vain-glorious crudities. 



The Dream-God. 19 

This narrative must dispense with the de- 
scription, nor could the reader be made to re- 
ceive the impression produced on the visitor 
from the West, while gazing on the dramas 
of the East. 

His Celestial Majesty—" brother of the sun 
and cousin of the stars " — is now enthroned in 
his extended residence, amid princely persons, 
political potentates and priestly dignitaries, 
surrounded by every burnishment and ad- 
ministered to by varied flattery and all servil- 
ity. The voyageurs suddenly appear before 
and among them. 

Emperor. — " Ha ! what means this intru- 
sion ? Chamberlain of the Palace, accursed 
Mandarin ! you shall lose your life for this. 
How came these persons into the Celestial 
Presence without permission and the salaam 
reverences ? Hold ! they have wings ! Can 
they be Celestial ? Spirit of Koong-Foo-tse ! 
come, protect, guard us ! Let all the great 
gongs be beaten ! let dreadful sounds frighten 
them away !" 

The Immortal, with a gesture, awes all into 
silence and composure. 

American to Emperor. — " Man, what mean 
these presumptions % What does your ridi- 
culous and despotic power claim f 



20 The Dream- God. 

Emperor. — "Not read the ' Books V Read 
thein. My power is immemorial and supreme. 
Yang and Yn, time and Koong-Foo-ste. have 
founded it — yes, founded it on the analogy of 
parental authority, which they declare absolute. 
The nation is my family, and I am its father. 
I am sole entitled ruler, and I am — holy and 
sacred ! Nor will I have contact with strangers 
and barbarians." 

American. — " What means he ? What of 
Confucius?" 

Immortal. — " Confucius was a Chinaman, 
who lived 550 years before Christ, He was a 
teacher of morals, rather than a founder of re- 
ligion. For those dark ages, he was an extra- 
ordinary man ; he was great as a philosopher, 
a moralist and a statesman. ■ He made no pre- 
tence to inspiration. He inculcated the train- 
ing of the physical system. The five elements, 
fire, water, wood, metal and earth (he called 
them Kings) were the basis of his system of 
philosophy. He maintained that the universe 
was generated by the union of two material prin- 
ciples — a heavenly and an earthly — Yang and 
Yn — but there is no mention of a Creator in 
his system. Man, he asserted, fell from purity 
and happiness by his own act ; and by his own 
act he can or must recover them. His politi- 



The Dream-God. 21 

cal system, which is one of pure despotism, 
has been give by the Emperor. Spirit of Koong- 
Foo-ste, come forth !" 

The apparition of Confucius here takes visi- 
ble shape, and startles the assembly. The 
other or American immaterialized human, ad- 
dresses him : 

" Confucius, thy soul has now learned wis- 
dom. How is it, that in life your great reason 
did not perceive and conceive that there must 
be and was a Being, all wise, all powerful, all 
good, eternal, and with His infinity universal- 
ly present — the God and Creator V ' 

Confucius. — " I had no revelation! 11 

Immortal. — " Creation itself suggests and 
proves a Creator ; it is His greatest revelation. 
The dual-elements in man (mind and matter,) 
should recognize His existence and essence." 

Confucius. — " I dimly perceived that there 
were two principles, but not precisely those of 
good and evil. I did not reason sufficiently at 
large. I thought only of earth, not of religion ; of 
the material, not the divine. Zoroaster surpassed 
me in these regards." 

American. — ' ; Emperor, the hand- writing of 
destroying Fate is on your wall. The hands 
of hundred of million% will pull it clown. God 
will send light, by the invading influence of 



22 The Dream- God. 

the ' outside barbarians ' of the far West, to 
scatter the darkness from your land. Your 
dynasty is doomed." 

The spectre of Confucius nods confirmation, 
and disappears. 

The voyageurs pass out, and soar into the 
air. 

Intense cimmerian darkness now seems to 
prevail everywhere, and the aerialists see 
themselves, as it were from a distance, flying 
as illumined transparent shapes through it. 
Afar off, and in another land, there is seen a 
small luminous spot on the horizon. 

" What is yon bright object V J 

" It is the < Temple of the Sun.' " 

The speed of thought brings them to its full 
view. They swoop down ; and pause in riv- 
eted contemplation of the sublime pile. 

What a house, built by supposed hands ! 
It is a structure from masses of the purest 
crystal ; a mile long ; two-thirds of a mile 
broad ; a half-mile high to its eaves. A 
steeple, itself of a mile's height and of beauti- 
ful proportions, towers with a superb aplomb 
a mile and a half above its front base. It is 
radiant with a whitish internal illumination, 
that shoots its apex of light upward to the 
dark empyrean. Over a central point of the 



The Dream-God. 23 

temple, a third distance from its rear, a lofty 
dome uplifts in grand majesty its imposing 
symmetry, and from which hangs pendent 
within, a vast globular light resembling and 
sacred to the sun, permeating and illuming 
with its golden rays the mighty mass. The 
double-tinted splendor of the tout ensemble, 
thrilled with rapture even an immortal soul ! 
Above the dome, and from a staff like the light- 
ning's streak, floated a tri-colored oriflamme — 
a rainbow flag. 

" One tint was of the sunbeam's dyes, 
" One the blue depth of seraph's eyes, 
" One, the pure spirit's veil of white 
" Had robed in radiance of its light; 
" The three so mingled did beseem 
" The texture of a heavenly dream." 

The occasion is a holy period to a people 
in southern Asia, of whom tens of thousands 
throng the columned interior. The flying 
visitors enter. Their eyes are instantly attract- 
ed upward to the high- vaulted ceiling, appear- 
ing like a slightly concaved sky, and of a 
deep cerulean hue, studded with stars (mystic 
phenomenon !) as if in deference to night. 

In the centre of the vast tessellated floor is a 
colossal opalescent human statue, typical of 
and dedicated to the God of Light, seated on 
a purple throne bordered with plates of gold — 



24 The Dream-God. 

the whole eight hundred feet high, and the 
figure in a commanding attitude, and as dis- 
pensing wisdom and exacting reverence. A 
space around it is paled by a balustrade of 
sapphire. Behind it, on the wall to the East, 
is pictured in marvellous glory the rising sun. 
In its front, outside the sapphire enclosure and 
toward an entrance in the West, is a broad low 
altar of polished granite. On it are piled vo- 
tive offerings of flowers- — creatures of the sun. 

Emblematic frescoes of light in varying 
hues, play over and adorn every portion of 
the wondrous edifice. 

The countless throng pressing from many 
entrances, with faces turned upward to the 
Idol, and with odorless flambeaux aloft intheii 
right hands, chanted, 

" Fire ! Genial Fire ! Glorious Fire ! 

Element of light! Hail, Father Sun!" 

The flying companions had already taken 
their station in the space reserved around the 
Colossus, and near his feet. 

Immortal. — " This has degenerated into Fire 
Worship — another form of Materialism. The 
wretches adore the emblems, but know not 
their meaning. Silence ! Attention !!" 

The people in awe put their left hands over 
then* eyes, and kneel with bowed heads. All 



The Bream-God. 25 

the lights, large and small, become dim and 
wan ; an ominous twilight prevails. 

Immortal. — " Zoroaster, in the name of Light 
appear !" 

The apparition of Zoroaster stands before 
them. 

Immaterialized American. — " I have heard of 
him, but what of him?" 

Immortal. — " Zoroaster or Zurdusht was a 
great thinker, who lived in primeval times ; 
computed by Aristotle to be about six thousand 
years before the death of Plato. He was born 
in ancient Bactria. He was the founder of the 
Magian religion, which prevailed long before 
the Medo-Persian monarchy. His doctrines are 
set forth in the book called Zendavesta. The 
first being (according to that transcript) is deno- 
minated ' Time without bounds ;' thus show- 
ing on the part of Zurdusht a vague percep- 
tion of the Eternal One. His creed maintains 
that from the operation of this ' infinite Time,' 
the two active principles of the universe were 
produced from all eternity, Ormuzd (represent- 
ing <700<#) and Ahriman, (representing evil,) each 
disposed to exercise his powers of creation in 
different ways. The first formed man capable 
of virtue ; the latter, changed into darkness 
from light, introduced evil." 



26 The Bream- God. 

"Zurdusht taught that, at the last day, 
Ormuzd would triumph." 

American. — " I see. Zoroaster compared the 
two principles to Light and Darkness, and to 
each attributed creative power. And now that 
I reflect, I note that dual elements of some 
kind, material or spiritual, and associated with 
the idea of good and evil, are averred in most 
religious creeds. It is the great mystery !" 

Immortal. — " Zurdusht, speak !" 

Zoroaster. — " Death further opened my finite 
eyes. There are not two discordant essences nor 
two creative powers. The One God is the 
One Creator. He alone can solve the inscruta- 
bility of Evil." 

The lights die out. Sounds cease. The 
temple disappears. Utter darkness ensues. A 
sudden murmured exclamation of wonder arises 
from countless beings, enshrouded in the night. 
The Heavens above have opened ; an amazing 
glory of radiance shines through them, amid 
which " the great White Throne" and " He 
who sitteth thereon" are seen, and His resound- 
ing voice utters to the Universe : I am the 
Light ! 



PART III. 

This dream had one feature in common with 
ordinary dreams ; parts of it were confused and 
fitful. But its unusual length and coherence 
were remarkable- It consisted of a series of 
vivid scenes and singular events in conformity 
with its general character and design. These 
were announced (a notable fact) in its outset, 
and sustained throughout (still more strange) 
in their appropriate relations. 

The aerial voyagews took a general view of 
the Ganges audits deltas. They paused to 
observe a Hindoo 'maiden, of the better caste, 
launch upon its waters, in her amative super- 
stition, one of those small lights, votive to love 
and imagination, which floating down the 
stream would by its course, accidents and fate, 
indicate what might be the chequered destiny 
of her affections, or the fortunes of an absent 
lover. And they noticed her as a specimen of 
the delicate symmetry of form and sentient 
beauty of face, characteristic of southern Asia- 



28 The Dream- God. 

tic females. The dreamy expression of soul 
on her countenance enthralled the American. 
For a time he was human. 

Geographical details but seldom attracted 
their attention. Their general consciousness was 
that of travelling at night ; yet there was ever 
light enough when and where it was desired. 
The American conceived the mortal wish to 
view a scene from the highest mountains in 
the world. They were near the Himmalayas, 
and flew to their most commanding peak. It 
appeared to be a bright day, and all the sen- 
sations of sublime awe and admiration which 
a man could feel under such circumstances 
were realized. This experience was entirely 
distinct from any impressions produced during 
their usual aerial observations. The landscape 
seemed to comprise every variety of object, 
from the grandest and most startling, to the 
softest and most serene, and a delicious mel- 
lowing sublimated the enchantment. 

Now, anon, they are looking down upon 
the Euphrates and the Tigris, and the classic 
slip of land between them. And in another 
moment a twilight envelopes them, a contem- 
plative mood ensues ; and, then, steals upon 
their consciousness the knowledge, inducing a 
singular awe or uneasiness, that they are hover- 



The Dream- God. 29 

ing over the Plain of Shinar. The biblical 
Babel, the confusion of tongues and the scat- 
tering of the nations crowd upon their reflec- 
tion, and again immortal thoughts arise. 

The disembodied remarks, "It is written 
that a drama occurred below, which, it appears 
to me, is as mysterious in its meaning as it is 
wonderful in its happening. The Divine frus- 
tration of the building of the Tower of Babel, 
as a rebuke to the presumption of man, in the 
light of an allegory, finds analogies in every 
day life. But, as a fact, it is classed among the 
miraculous. Which is it I The unity or variety 
of origin of the human race is a vexed ques- 
tion ; and man's distinctiveness from other 
animals, especially in the characteristics of 
reason and immortality, may be regarded an- 
other. It has occurred to me that attributing 
the i confusion of tongues ' to the miraculous, 
may have been but an ancient priestly, as well 
as theoretic, pretext in favor of the doctrine 
of the unity of the human race. The Babel 
statement is a strange story of God's ways." 

Immortal. — " Even to immortals, God's de- 
signs are not revealed, and in many respects 
His ways are inscrutable. The past may de- 
clare His nature, but never wholly His pur- 
poses. The Future is His own. But as His 



30 The Bream-God. 

laws are unchangeable, inferences may be 
drawn by any being in proportion to his facul- 
ties and knowledge. Their gradations are as 
numerous as the stars. Nor is it permitted to 
me to declare to you in your mortal status, all 
I know in my immortal status. But the unity 
or variety of human origin is of no present 
importance. The differences of the human 
races, in language, color and structure, give 
assurance against their amalgamation and 
homogeneity on earth." 

The dream assumes a new phase. In a 
grand hall, of shadowy sides, suspended in 
mid-air, the parties recline in voluptuous chairs. 

It is as if fitted for exhibitions. A moving 
superb panorama passes before them, repre- 
senting in their greatest glory, the following 
cities : Babylon, Nineveh, Thebes, Troy, Tyre, 
Jerusalem, Bagdad, Alexandria and Damas- 
cus. They alike saw them and seemed to be 
in them. It was a curious, instructive and 
wondrous display. A reverse movement of 
the picture then presented these cities or their 
sites as they are now. Their inhabitants at 
the different periods, in varied masses and 
actions, and male and female in every style 
and hue of Eastern costume and countenance, 
created a strange and absorbing interest. The 



The Dream- God. 31 

kaleidoscopic phases of human nature will ever 
challenge curiosity, excite observation and en- 
gender thoughts. The desire " to see and be 
seen " by our kind, has a more suggestive and 
philosophical source than mere vanity. 

The winged adventurers of a night recross 
from Asia to Europe, traverse the famed 
Bosphorus, and reaching Constantinople, alight 
for a moment, each on a minaret of Hie mosque, 
(formerly church of St. Sophia,) the grandest 
temple to Mahomet and of the Turks. The 
view was grand, novel and crowded with ob- 
jects and memorials. It was the most noted 
point on the line between the East and the 
West, and there were the remembrances and 
insignia of both. These philosophic observers 
had carefully noticed, of late, the influences 
and traces of men and events, systems and 
creeds, times and powers, from Alexander the 
Great, in his primary institution of commerce 
and in its mighty effects, down to the condi- 
tion produced by the late struggle by Turkey, 
France and England on one side, against the 
aggressions of Russia and Northern hordes on 
the other. 

With their usual facility they next visit the 
palace of the Sultan. Their presence surprised, 
but its character was deferred to and welcomed. 



32 The Dream- Q-od. 

Turkish hospitality and courtesy are genial, 
when once enlisted. The Grand Vizier him- 
self directed their entertainment near the per- 
son of his Majesty of the Crescent. In a stoical 
manner, but with liberal temper, they discussed 
with the guests matters of religion, govern- 
ment, social customs, moral subtleties and 
modern developments and tendencies. The 
preconceived ideas and prejudices of the Ameri- 
can were greatly modified. The former Turk 
and Mohammedan of haughty bigotry, fierce- 
ness and the sword, had subsided into toler- 
ance for the Christian, amity with the Euro- 
pean, and deference to the civilization, learning 
and powers of the Caucasian race. Once the 
chief guardian and lookout on the ramparts 
of the ignorance, despotism and superstitions of 
the East, he now would open its portals to the 
more active spirit and mightier enlightenment 
of the West. All this was elicited and defined 
in the harmonious discussions that interluded 
the ceremonial observances. 

The suite of apartments allotted to females 
in the larger dwelling-houses . of the East 
(called the Harem) is a portion sacred to them 
and the head of the family, and forbidden to 
other masculine intrusion. But, for the 
winged spirits, there was no objection to their 



The Bream- God. 33 

admittance to even the imperial Seraglio. Upon 
the invitation of the Sultan, who led the way, 
they retired with him into the delicious abode 
of the Sultanas and lady favorites of that 
mysterious Court. Here for the first time 
gallantry so inspired the American that he 
bowed, kneeled— yes, salaam- ed ! This choice 
collection of beautiful women, selected from 
beauties of different climes, and from races of 
the higher types, presented every species of 
female loveliness in form, feature and complex- 
ion. The Circassian prevailed in numbers and 
attractions. 

A golden-haired blonde from the North, with 
seraphic blue eyes and lily skin, robust yet 
lithe and sprightly, was evidently the favorite 
of the Sultan. But in contrast with her style, 
yet equal in subtle fascination, reclined upon a 
divan in more haughty retiracy a tropical being, 
(a near relative of the Sultan,) in whose hair 
was the sheeny darkness of a thousand starry 
nights, on whose brunette cheek was the rose's 
richest red, and whose flashing black eyes and 
queenly figure were now in dreamy repose. 
I3ut they grew animated on the entrance and 
in the presence of the party ; and during their 
stay and devoirs, her look often rested on the 
American, "and ayes looked" affinity "to eyes 



34 The Bream- God 

that spoke again." He became enthralled. His 
imagination conjectured in her the contrarient 
higher qualities of a Seniiramis, a Cleopatra 
and a Zenobia. She filled it I 

At an appropriate time, eunuchs from among 
the number in attendance, conducted the 
guests to private apartments. The American 
dreamed he slept and had a vision. 

The warm radiance of Zulika's black eyes 
still thrill his soul with a loving passion. 
Mahomet, too, was associated with her in his 
thoughts. He calls upon him to come and 
take him among the celestial Houris — "the 
beautiful eyed — the black eyed." The appari- 
tion of Mahomet is suddenly seen ; it some- 
what startles, yet, also, composes his other ex- 
citement 

Mahomet. — u Brother disembodied! You aro 
still human in your thoughts. Death alone^ 
can free you from them. Yet I know them: ; it- 
is permitted to me now to learn what transpires in? 
the universe. It is also vouchsafed to, you, in< 
your immaterialized state, to hold converse with, 
the departed spirits, yes, even the: Houris, as, 
you request. Among other matters; you wonder 
at the apparently inconsistent decrees I made- 
in regard to wine and women^ for my follow- 
ers on earth. The inhibition; of wine was forr 



The Dream-God, 35 

the masses, who are largely composed of the 
inconsiderate and craving. Its use will induce 
the habit and disease of intoxication, which is 
fatal to mankind, especially in warm climates. 
Temperance should ever be a moral duty, and 
abstinence alone can secure it among the 
many. ' The joys of wine ' are only for the 
prudent and thoughtful, and its healthful 
quality for the ill. It has its proper uses." 

Disembodied.— ■" In this regard you were 
right, as an expounder." 

Mahomet— "In permitting polygamy and 
even concubinage to some, I reflected that as 
marriage would not be suitable or convenient 
or possible to a number of men, I would be 
making a needful, wise and saving provision 
for surplus women. The deprivation of wine, 
too, rendered it more salutary ; man will have 
one, and if he can, both. My system was, 
also, designed to diminish promiscuous pro- 
stitution." 

Disembodied.—" Clever excuse! But how 
will you defend the propagation of your creed 
by the sword?" 

Mahomet.—" Mankind, so generally stolid 
or perverse in untoward ignorance or selfish- 
ness, will usually require more or less coercion 
in some shape, to be arousedinto useful anima- 



36 The Bream-God. 

tion and effort, and to the pursuit of good and 
happiness. The sword, like necessity, stimu- 
lates ; it is at times a great vivifier. It is even, 
occasionally, justice on a large and peculiar 
scale ; it is for man and nations, what the rod 
is for the child." 

Disembodied. — " Clever pretext, again ! But 
you seem noiv to think that you were a better 
giver of law than of religion- " 

Mahomet — " I was not a Prophet. I was 
right in but one religious dogma : the declara- 
tion of the one God. And of Him, man is to 
himself the most direct and proximate revela- 
tion. Know thyself! It is both duty and in- 
struction. Come ! sister spirits would confer 
with thee." 

Disembodied American, — u But, oh, I would 
see more of her whom I met to-night." 

Mahomet. — " She is your affinity ; and when 
you are both freed from the earthly, you will 
abide together on some Olympus in the Illim- 
itable. Let us to the Seventh Heaven !" 

They sweep upward and onward, and on 
their passage see a vast and bright globe, (a 
star or sun,) many times larger than the Earth. 
There they see the souls of the most ignorant 
and obtuse of the dead, in their second stage 
of existence or ordeal of improvement. It is 



The Bream-God. 37 

the first Heaven. They proceed on by other 
worlds — all abodes of Spiritual Progression, 
and arrive at the seventh Heaven. 

Mahomet — " The more favored and self- 
elevating of Earth when they die, are at once 
transferred to the sphere most suited to them 
— some few even reaching the sixth Heaven, 
at the outset upon eternity. The seventh 
Heaven is the first abode of achieved Goodness 
and translucent Eeason in the initial state of 
perfection, After and beyond that, these be- 
come identical with Knowledge, which I be- 
lieve is eternally acquisitive and expansive. 
Here is my attainment through centuries. I 
began my after- death career in the third 
Heaven. Zoroaster his in the fourth. Con- 
fucius was permitted to pass the first, because 
of his great mind and good intent ; but he was 
assigned to the second to learn there was a 
God and a Creator. Your travelling compan- 
ion, who was never mortal, is beyond me, and 
I know not his origin. Here I will show you 
the most glorified women, who have come 
originally from earth." 

On the globe at which they had arrived, 
there was, as on Earth, all variety of its own 
kinds or peculiarities. 

The disembodied American was soon thrown 



38 The Dream- God. 

into social intercourse. The inhabitants ap- 
peared to have the human form glorified — 
called " the image of Grod." Here there was 
ideal beauty, infinitely varied like the flowers 
of earth. The females were of heavenly and 
indescribable loveliness. Their countenances 
beamed with sublimated purity and affection. 
They thronged around him as " administering 
angels." Their sweet voices accompanied the 
music of the spheres, and their swelling chorus 
joined the song of the morning stars, in the 
eternal anthem to the Most High. 

Heavenly Houri. — "Mortal ! Know that thy 
thought is vain, that the passions of the body 
— of the earth — are here in some riper and 
heaven-ized existence, and that their indul- 
gence is but enhanced in pleasurable degree 
Here there is attraction — affinity — but it is of 
the souL" 

Disembodied. — " Then there is no Love here ! 
I mean the feeling peculiar to the sexes." 

Houri. — " Yes. But there is no material de- 
sire. The sexes are essentially complements of 
each other ; but these complements may differ 
in their substance and proportions. When 
they are counterparts of each other, then affini- 
ty is perfect This affinity is heavenly Love 
and unalloyed happiness. Such a pair are tho 



The Dream-God. 39 

Bride and Bridegroom of Eternity. Their 
children are the heavenly thoughts which spring 
from such affinity." 

The startled brain of the visionist caused 
him to awake into his dream, and he saw his 
Immortal companion bending over him with 
a smile. 



PART IV. 

The dream changes ; the voyageurs are fly- 
ing over Greece. This small bnt wondrous 
nation, so remarkable in the annals of mankind, 
and so full of historic and classic associations, 
was seen by them as in one view of its ancient 
and modern times, and of its geographic and 
art attractions under the illumination of genius 
and heroism, or in the twilight of mental and 
moral decadence. 

The Immortal remarked, as it faded in the 
rear from their sight, " This favored land, 
emerging as it is, again, from the contact and 
influence of barbarism and moral depression, 
and with the native talents and sprightliness 
of its race, throwing off their frivolity and 
supineness, under the stimulating agencies of 
civilization now in contact with it, is once 
more destined to appropriate distinction." 

American. — "And yonder is Venice! Its 
romance has ever excited and interested my 
imagination." 



The Dream- God. 41 

Immortal. — " Its history has been like a 
meteor ; but in more ways than one : it has 
dashed into obscurity ! It may be of con- 
tinued interest as a locality and a city, but it 
can never, again, be a power." 

Italia ! Oh, Italia ! with what emotions, 
evolved from considerations of the present as 
of the past, they approach thee ! In a south- 
erly sweep they note the position of the an- 
cient Brundusium, and gaze upon Vesuvius, 
Pompeii and Naples. They move up the 
course of the " yellow Tiber," and at last, they 
hover over the " Eternal City." They descend 
into Rome ! traverse its streets, visit its famed 
places and sanctuaries, examine its ruins, think 
of its noted dead, observe its new features and 
present people, and, more than all, ponder upon 
the meaning of its history, its situation and its 
attitude. It is not within the compass of this 
narrative to present the volume of feeling and 
thoughts of the sleeper. In the Vatican and 
in the fane of St. Peter's, as he did after in St. 
Paul's and in London, he ruminated on the re- 
ligion of civilization, and on the new specula- 
tions of infidel philosophy. In the Coliseum 
he reflected upon the impulses and ways of 
the populace. In the Forum he analyzed the 
systems of law and the subtleties of eloquence. 



42 The Dream- God. 

In Senate halls he eliminated the science, the 
experiments, the elan of statesmanship, in both 
State and Church matters. Within the classic 
area of the Seven Hills, Man had exhibited 
every phase of his nature, inclination and 
power. Here Humanity had been borne upon 
every wave of destiny, and had travelled upon 
every highway and byway of fate, on earth. 
Rome is the epitome of the world's Past. Its 
mission is ended. 

Moving northward the aerialists glance upon 
Pisa, Florence, Milan and Mantua, the Po and 
the Adige. To gratify the curiosity of the 
American, they divert and descend to the 
point where the Rubicon was passed, and he 
thinks of Cesar, and of all the so-called Cesars, 
down to the last Czar and Kaiser. They visit, 
also, the plain of Marengo, which assured in 
power and prestige the true successor to Cesar, 
as he had been to Alexander — the third that 
made a trio of the world's mental and imperial 
masters. 

Inasmuch as the travellers were threading 
the animate gallery of the world, they gave 
but a glance at the art galleries of Italy. 
What was a marble Venus or Apollo — what 
was a painting of the Transfiguration or of a 
Madonna — what was the tower of Pisa or the 



The Dream- God. 43 

cathedral of Milan, in comparison with what 
they had seen ! 

Immortal. — " Italy is still nearer to national 
regeneration, power and influence than Greece. 
The full power of modern enlightenment will 
ere long be felt there." 

American. — "The names of Cavour and 
Mazzini are already enrolled on the true roll 
of fame. And, too, the biographies of Kienzi 
and Lorenzo the Magnificent are peculiarly 
attractive." 

This was said as they were observing the 
beauties of lakes Garda and Como. From 
thence they . bent their pinions for Vienna. 
They circled it to view the fields made mem- 
orable by Sobieski and Napoleon. They 
enter it ; and a cold and silvery twilight 
seemed to prevail as if its most consummate 
imperialism and refinement preferred the 
blinded and curtained salons of governmental 
and social civilization. In such palatial halls 
were its Court ; and there the finesse of closet 
and boudoir intrigue had attained to its most 
exquisite development in this epoch. And the 
decorated white cloth coats of its costume de- 
lighted the eyes, but were significant of hypoc- 
risy to the brain, of the American. Winged 
as he was, and probably because of it, he 



44 The Dream- God. 

found temptations addressed to both his head 
and heart. It was there thought that even 
angels could be corrupted " on earth as in 
heaven." 

They seek the purer air of Switzerland and 
the Alps. They " did " Mont Blanc and the 
Simplon, slid upon an avalanche, looked 
upon Geneva and its lake, and thought of Tell, 
the Cantons, and Calvin. They next seat 
themselves in human style on the deck of a 
steamer, and make the trip of the ever disput- 
able and picturesque Rhine. They dash off 
on wing to Brussels, and imagining they hear 
the il sounds of revelry by night" and " the 
cannon's opening roar," they ponder on Water- 
loo. 

American. — "Now for the dear old cliffs of 
Albion. Oh, Great Britain and Ireland, land 
of my fathers, let me see thee ! Stretching 
their wings in full sympathy and in joyous 
flight across the Channel, they scan with lov- 
ing and careful eye England, Scotland and 
Ireland. They take in their all and every 
part and place ; and terminate their British 
tour in London. Everything indicated genu- 
ine maturity and stability. Both the material 
and spiritual developments proclaim solid sense 
and judicious cultivation. It is the only conn- 



The Dream- God. 45 

try in which the Past and Present seem to 
blend and harmonize. 

There is a Royal levee at St. James palace, 
and there all appear royal. The British no- 
bility and gentry! what a superb body of 
men and women ! What glorious types of the 
mental and physical — what exemplars of edu- 
cation and refinement, character and tone ! It 
is in Great Britain that industry, honesty and 
intellect have acquired gold; and gold has 
not debased but elevated humanity — has not 
disintegrated but cemented the social elements. 

They were graciously received by Majesty; 
and they congratulated the Queen, not as 
sovereign, but as the royal representative of 
such a nation. Her peers, with calm satisfac- 
tion and cordial dignity, exclaimed, " That the 
just appreciation of the British people by 
native white Americans, involved the highest 
compliment to both." 

The Lord Maygr took them in charge, 
visited with them the notable places and build- 
ings of London, and a l'Anglaise, entertained 
them at a banquet. On the occasion the 
Premier, who was a guest, remarked in his 
speech : " Great Britain, at last, although a 
monarchy in name and form, is a republic in 
fact. Its government combines the more of 



46 The Bream-God. 

the advantages and the less of the disadvan- 
tages of the one-man power and of the many- 
power, than that of any other nation does. 
Hence it is, that the rights of the citizen equal 
those of even America, and are more practical- 
ly protected and left in undisturbed satisfac- 
tion, politically and socially, than in any coun- 
try in the world. There is more nominal but 
less real personal liberty in the United States 
than in England. Yet in these regards it is 
the just and proud boast and boon of these 
two nations, that their peoples alone can be 
called free." 

American. — " Is it because popular opinion 
in America is a tyrant toward each individual, 
that Great Britain has the advantage in prac- 
tical, if not theoretical liberty V 

Immortal. — " Yes. Settled law and not fluc- 
tuating opinion should govern and protect."* 

The good-byes are genial. While crossing 
the Straits of Dover for the. Continent, the Im- 
mortal said with emphasis : 

" The Anglo-Saxons everywhere furnish the 
best wives and mothers of your globe." 

La Belle France ! Inimitable Paris ! what a 
medley of expectations attends upon visiting 
these centres of travel. They run the gamut 
of pleasure from the exhilarating boards of the 



The Bream-God. 47 

" lirfit fantastic toe," to the arenas where learn- 
ing and skill walk in solemn mental pomp, 
and genius essays its wings for loftier flights 
from the heights of knowledge. There the 
heart vibrates from all the phases of frivolity, 
through the glows of vanity, love and ambi- 
tion, to the glamours of suicide. 

They proceed to Versailles, and indulge in 
mocking criticisms upon its costly and useless 
structures and empirical history. 

They surveyed with care, Paris and its en- 
virons. They thought of it as a communistic 
volcano or as the cradle of revolutions. 

Immortal. — " Blessed is the person or nation, 
who has a Faith, however crude ! But, in 
truth, the French have no faith of any stable 
or guiding kind. Nor do they permit them- 
selves to be either calm enough to study or 
rational enough to understand the mission of 
Reason. They do not truly apply it to either re- 
ligion or government. Their women are prac- 
tically wiser than their men ; in their domain 
of society the former have instituted a system 
of mere life. Both have some tangible notions 
on the art of living on earth. Neither think 
very coherently on the Beyond. Natural (not 
mental) Philosophy, in all its branches, is their 
most successful sphere. Their German rivals 



48 • The Bream-God. 

surpass them in mental speculations and innoc- 
uous transcendentalisms." 

They enter the Tuileries. The Emperor of 
the French expressed his keen appreciation of 
the objects of their grand and adventurous 
tour. With respectful earnestness he asked 
many questions in regard to it ; especially in 
relation to political developments. In reply 
to a question by the American in reference to 
the assumptions of his own dynasty, he assev- 
erated that it was a Napoleonic conception, 
maxim and design, " that the virtues and rights 
of the people could and should be asserted un- 
der the one-man representative power — that 
Imperialism and Republicanism could be iden- 
ticalized in and under governmental action. 
That no other kind of government either 
suited or would satisfy the French. And that 
he ever studied Great Britain and the United 
States as among the leading examples before 
him, in devising the measures of his action 
and the formulas of his policy." 

He, also, assigned this as a reason why he 
and his uncle had not been favored by the 
old imperial or royal regimes. His Empress, 
the lovely Eugenie, was marked in her gra- 
cious deference, and uttered some angelic sen- 
timents in support of her husband's theory. 



The Dream- God. 49 

At Court the ethereal party received the at- 
tentions of the savans of the world's scientific 
metropolis, and with them visited their meeting. 
Abstruse topics were discussed- In reply to 
an inquiry upon electricity, the Immortal in- 
timated "that, although it was not his prov- 
ince to discuss the connection between mind 
and matter, or to expound what agency mag- 
netism had in relation to it, yet as the brain 
and body of man were a series of electric bat- 
teries, and electricity a fluid that pervaded the 
earth, it would in time, by an effort of the will, 
and by an action of the human body under 
and in certain conditions, become a medium of 
thought and converse between any two per- 
sons at different spots on the earth." 

American. — " Will they hold conversations 
as if in a tete-a-t^te V 

Immortal. — " Yes. Without using language, 
Americans will thus converse with Chinese." 

They visited in the Invalides the Tomb of 
Napoleon le Grand. Before it the American 
was irresistibly affected by the awe, wonder 
and curiosity, which may be felt for the majes- 
ty of mind. 

The travellers now proceed to Bordeaux; 
where, seated in a salon, and the American be- 
ing thirsty, the best brandy and claret are set 



50 The Dream- God. 

before them. They taste them with relish, 
and discuss their merits. 

Suddenly the Disembodied exclaims, " Day 
is approaching, I must return to my body. 
Let us fly." 

They once more essay the aerial passage of 
the Atlantic. At the instance of the Spirit of 
Morphine, who suggested that they had time 
for a swoop to south of the Equator, and for 
a view of the constellation of the Southern 
Cross, the American, who affected astronomy, 
readily assented. They whirl southward, see 
it, and repass " the Line." They enter the 
United States at Savannah, and soon reach the 
abode of the sleeper in the upper part of South 
Carolina. His spirit enters his chamber through 
the window and glides into his body, when he 
experiences a sense of relief as to its safety, 
and of satisfaction in his wondrous trip. He 
nestles in comfort of thought and matter, and 
— awakes ! 

The day has dawned, and soon the rays of 
the rising sun greet his mortal eyes. During 
that day he spoke of the dream, and was pale 
and excited. This dream occurred in the early 
part of January, 1868, and lasted between nine 
and ten hours. 



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